MSI Finally Reveals Radeon RX 590 Armor GPUs

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Just like the old cliché: It's better late than never. After more than two months since the release of AMD's Radeon RX 590 gaming graphics card, MSI has finally unveiled the brand's custom models.

(Image credit: MSI)

The MSI Radeon RX 590 Armor graphics cards are based on AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) 4.0 architecture. More specifically, they are built around the Polaris 30 silicon that's produced by GlobalFoundries under the 12nm process node. MSI's offerings adhere to AMD's reference specifications, which include 2,304 Stream Processors and 8GB of GDDR5 memory clocking in at 2,000MHz (8,000MHz effective) that communicates across a 256-bit memory interface.

The MSI Radeon RX 590 Armor 8G comes with a 1,545MHz boost clock that is identical to the Radeon RX 590 reference model. On the other hand, the MSI Radeon RX 590 Armor 8G OC is equipped with a higher boost clock that reaches 1,565MHz, 20MHz higher than the reference boost clock. Both models share the same 1,469MHz base clock.

(Image credit: MSI)

As the name suggests, the MSI Radeon Rx 590 Armor graphics cards use the brand's dual-slot Armor cooler. On this occasion, the shroud boasts a black and white finish and lacks RGB lighting of any sort. The Armor cooler uses a pair of MSI's Torx 2.0 cooling fans. They employ double ball bearings, which improves longevity and minimizes operating noise. The fans' blades also have a steeper curve to stimulate more airflow.

(Image credit: MSI)

A gigantic heatsink is hidden under the Armor cooler for heat dissipation. According to MSI, the copper heatpipes are directly infused into the baseplate itself to improve cooling while the numerous aluminum fins on the heatsink are designed to maximize airflow in the direction of the heatpipes.

The MSI Radeon RX 590 Armor graphics cards draw power from two external 8-pin PCIe power connectors. They provide two DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, two HDMI ports, and a dual-Link DVI-D port. The graphics cards also support two-way CrossFire.

MSI didn't reveal availability and pricing for its Radeon RX 590 Armor graphics cards.

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Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • aragingmonk
    Not impressed with the 590. Power draw is way to high for a small performance gain. The XFX RX 480 GTR XXX would do 1365 MHz at +10 on the power slider. Some would go as high as 1400 MHz with no power slider adjustment. See Jayztwocents, "This 480 doesn't suck" video. Then the 580 was born with more power draw and now the 590.
    I have a Sapphire Vega 56 Pulse and after tweaks (undervolt / overclock) it hits 1662 MHz at nearly the same power draw. While beating the 590 by a good margin. No thanks.
    Reply
  • lojzemahnic
    Looks like we're not gonna see PC based Navi anytime soon if AIBs are still releasing new versions of 590s :( GPU market is F...
    Reply
  • t99
    Damn I wish this didn't come out. Finally decided to wait and keep my gaming x rx 480 and wait for Navi. A key reason other than not more than a 20% gain at most was due to not being able to get an MSI 590.

    My 480 does 1390 / 1900 without any voltage adjustments and never even hits 70c. Purchasing 2 of the 3 bundle games anyway so take off 120$ of the price. If this resells for 100$ later on it's not a bad deal. Just when I thought I knew what to do MSI had to make their version
    Reply
  • King_V
    I'm a little surprised they went with the Armor cooler vs the Armor MK2.

    I had been given to understand that the original Armor cooler left something to be desired in terms of cooling capability before. With the 590's additional power draw and resulting heat, this doesn't seem like a great move on MSI's part.

    Again, though, most of what I think I "know" about the Armor cooler is through reviews/complaints/word-of-mouth. Well, that, and MSI went and made a beefier, MK2 version for previous cards.
    Reply